History of the Arizona Trail

The vision of a continuous border-to-border trail traversing Arizona's unique landscapes and historic areas has been on the minds of trail users through the years.One individual, however, took the dream one step further. Dale Shewalter, a hiking enthusiast and schoolteacher from Flagstaff, visualized a long-distance trail while hiking in the Santa Rita Mountains in the 1970's. During the summer of 1985, he completed a scouting of such a trail. While walking from Nogales to the Utah border, he visualized and tentatively mapped an interlocking route of trail systems traversing the state from south to north. Beginning at the Mexican border, he projected a 750-mile route through desert and mountain corridors all the way to the Utah state line. The concept of the Arizona Trail was born, offering opportunities for hikers, equestrians, mountain bicyclists (where appropriate), and cross-country skiers to experience the rich diversity Arizona has to offer.

Shewalter, during the next few years, began promoting his vision of a border-to-border trail to key state and federal agencies, service groups, corporations, and individuals. Much interest was evident. He proposed the Arizona Trail concept to the Arizona State Parks Board in 1985, gaining the support and enthusiasm of Larry Mutter, then State Trails Coordinator. The Arizona Hiking and Equestrian Trails Committee (now known as Arizona State Committee on Trails or "ASCOT"), the citizen advisory committee to the Arizona State Parks Board, also endorsed the trail concept early on and have since been helping to coordinate the project.

As nearly 70 percent of the Arizona Trail will be located on U.S. Forest Service administered lands, the implementation of the Trail made a significant leap forward when, in 1988, Shewalter became the first Arizona Trail (Steward) Coordinator under the sponsorship of the Kaibab National Forest. This Outdoor Recreation Planner position was made possible through funding from the Kaibab, Coronado, Tonto, and Coconino National Forests.

On July 1st of that year, seven miles of the proposed 50.5 mile Kaibab Plateau Trail were dedicated and opened to the public as the first segment of the Arizona Trail. The Kaibab Forest Products Company, in a co-venture with the Kaibab National Forest, underwrote part of this 50.5-mile segment between Grand Canyon National Park and the Utah border. The dedication was held at Jacob Lake, 40 miles north of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It attracted 250 people to the tiny, remote site, including then U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Robertson, Senator Dennis DeConcini, Representative Bob Stump, Kaibab Industries Chairman and Chief Executive Officer A. Milton Whiting, members of the Arizona State Committee on Trails, leaders of the Sierra Club and representatives of other environmental and conservation organizations. Upon its completion in 1989 the Kaibab Plateau Trail became the first major leg of the Arizona Trail.

Work was also underway elsewhere in the state to identify trail segments that would create a continuous trail across the state. In the spring of 1989, two major segments of the Arizona Trail were dedicated in the southern part of the state. One segment started at Montezuma Pass in the Coronado National Memorial spanning 20 miles along the crest of the Huachuca Mountains through the Coronado National Forest. The second segment was a 57 mile route near Tucson in the Rincon and Santa Catalina Mountains passing through Saguaro National Park and the Coronado National Forest.

In the years following, many more segments where identified, designated, and completed in the Kaibab, Coronado, Tonto, and Coconino National Forests. Many of these segments utilized such funding and labor sources as challenge cost share agreements, the Arizona Heritage Trails Fund Grants program, Arizona Boys Ranch, Arizona Conservation Corps, and Sierra Club National Service Trips.

In 1990, the Bureau of Land Management began planning trail segments on the Arizona Strip District-Buckskin Mountain area near the Utah border, near the Gila River, and in the Empire-Cienega Resource Conservation Area.

In 1993, three federal agencies and Arizona State Parks entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) to establish a framework to cooperatively plan for the development and completion of the Arizona Trail. The IGA led to the development of this Management Guide which will direct the implementation of the project through the year 2000 and beyond.

The coming together of multiple agencies has been a source of tremendous momentum for the completion of the Arizona Trail. This can be seen in the formation of the Arizona Trail Association, the hiring of the Arizona Trail Steward, the assistance of the National Park Service's Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program, the development of a formal Arizona Trail segment steward program, Arizona State Parks creating an interim central clearinghouse for Trail information, and the increased media attention the Trail has received.